Senate to hold hearing on Amazon drones

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing next year on the commercial use of drones, including Amazon’s plan to use drones to deliver products.

“Amazon’s plans for using drones to deliver packages is just one example of the potential this technology offers consumers, and a reflection of the ingenuity of American business,” Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said in a statement Monday.

“As we move forward toward integrating drones into civilian life and capitalizing on the economic opportunities they offer, we must make certain that these aircraft meet rigorous safety and privacy standards. I plan to hold a hearing early next year to explore the potential economic benefits of unmanned vehicles in our airspace as well as the potential risks they may create.”

{mosads}A Commerce Committee aide said the hearing was already in the works before Amazon’s announcement on Sunday. 

Both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees held hearings this year on the use of drones in domestic airspace. Those hearings focused mostly on the use of drones by police and other government agencies for surveillance.  

Federal rules currently ban the commercial use of drones. But the Federal Aviation Administration is working on rules to allow private groups to fly drones in U.S. airspace as early as 2015. 

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced his company’s plan to eventually use drones to deliver packages on an episode of “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday. 

“I know this looks like science fiction. It’s not,” he said.

Bezos said the concept is still “years away.” But he envisions half-hour deliveries of objects up to five pounds, “which covers 86 percent of the items that we deliver.”

“These generations of vehicles, it could be a 10-mile radius from a fulfillment center,” Bezos said. “So, in urban areas, you could actually cover very significant portions of the population. And so, it won’t work for everything; you know, we’re not gonna deliver kayaks or table saws this way. These are electric motors, so this is all electric; it’s very green, it’s better than driving trucks around.”